Regardless of the progress in contract negotiations in France, Switzerland or the UK, where competition among suppliers has led to reductions in newsprint prices, EUWID-sources are doubtful that price talks on the markets in Italy and Germany will get going in the near future.
At the end of January, newsprint price talks for deliveries in 2013 were still going on in Italy and it is very likely that the negotiations will continue well into February and perhaps even March. Some producers say that Italian publishers are not willing to sit down and discuss the specifics of new contracts and prices as they believed to have the upper hand in the current price round.
Publishing companies explain there had already been meetings and discussions with paper suppliers on delivery conditions and price targets for 2013 but the two sides could not reconcile their price expectations; while suppliers are hardly trying to at least maintain the prices from the previous quarter or half-year, buyers insist on price cuts.
In Germany, January brought few surprises on the newsprint markets. Contract negotiations for the first half or for the whole of 2013 have generally not yet made any serious progress and the situation does not look as if contracts could come to a close any time soon, market participants explain.
As far as regards paper deliveries in the period until new contracts are finally closed, players agreed interim solutions. According to EUWID respondents, various models have been implemented. These range from traditional pricing methods to suspension of deliveries until new contracts have been signed.
⇒ This article is an excerpt from EUWID's monthly report on the paper markets in Italy and Germany. The EUWID Price Watch Italy for January is published in EUWID Pulp and Paper no. 5 on 30 January. The EUWID Price Watch Germany wiil be published in EUWID Pulp and Paper no. 6 on 6 February.
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